Upcoming Event
Book Reading
February 22, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Take a journey through history with griot—the traditional African storyteller— Kenyette Spencer Mills as she reads powerful excerpts from her forthcoming historical novel, The Dressmaker’s Secret. Through Kenyette’s words, history is not only remembered—it breathes!
The Dressmaker’s Secret Saga
The Dressmaker’s Secret is a sweeping historical saga told across multiple volumes, tracing America’s origins from the arrival of English settlers at Jamestown, through the forced journey of the first Africans brought to Point Comfort, Virginia in 1619, and honoring the Indigenous peoples who governed and stewarded the land long before colonization. The saga follows the evolution of colonial law—from early, fluid systems of indentured servitude to the brutal codification of race-based chattel slavery—revealing how power, race, and freedom were redefined.
This unforgettable tale brings to life the brutal realities and quiet resilience of the enslaved, weaving their stories with those of forgotten historical figures such as John Mottram, Colonel Nicholas Spencer, Jost Hite, and Robert Carter—men who helped forge the economy of slavery in the early colonies and shaped the destinies of America’s founding fathers: George Washington, James Monroe, James Madison, Henry Lighthorse Lee, and Thomas Jefferson.
The Beginning
The Dressmaker’s Secret Saga begins with the life of Elizabeth Key, whose courage and determination challenged the legal boundaries of colonial Virginia. Born to an English father and an enslaved African mother, Elizabeth’s fight for her freedom in the seventeenth century reshaped colonial law and exposed the fragile foundations upon which race-based slavery would later be built. Her story anchors the saga, setting in motion generations shaped by resistance, survival, and the pursuit of justice.
A Multilinear Epic Spanning Centuries of American History
Through the intimate lives of enslaved and free men and women, Indigenous communities, and colonial families, The Dressmaker’s Secret Saga reveals how social hierarchies, power, and resistance were forged and contested across generations. Spanning the colonial era, the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the Civil War, each volume traces how national conflict reshaped identity, freedom, and survival. Together, the saga invites a powerful reflection on unity and liberty—and on what it has meant, and still means, to live within a nation founded on the promise that all are created equal and endowed with the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Location:
Bell Grove Manor
336 Belle Grove Road
Middletown, Virginia
For questions, please contact Belle Grove at 540-869-2028 or visit http://www.bellegrove.org
Book Launch & Signing
Coming Soon!
The story is preparing to step off the page. Check back soon for official launch details, signing dates, and special moments yet to be unveiled.
- Future Events
- Event Listing Coming Soon
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Psalm 45:1 (NIV)
“My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.”
